Essential Tools for Running a Dating Site

11 Oct Essential Tools for Running a Dating Site

So you’ve finally made the decision to cross over to the light (dark) side and start an Online Dating Business. You’ve bought a copy of SkaDate Dating Software, got an appropriate hosting solution, and even have a marketing plan to drive more traffic to the new site. Are you all set?

Yes, mostly. Still, let me help you just a little bit more here, by suggesting a few essential tools that will make your life much easier. A few of the items on my list are of general variety, but I thought it would be really handy to have them grouped into a single collection of software and web applications that can aid any startuper on the way to success. (Links to all mentioned tools are provided below the post).

Basic Tools

I’ll start with the really easy stuff, which you likely already have and use. If not, make sure to get it asap. Since you might be eventually dealing with code and design modifications (including customization of additional free dating themes and templates), it is common sense to have an FTP Client handy. One of the most popular and user-friendly apps out there is FileZilla, but if you use Firefox, you might want to check a FireFTP extension, which allows you to download and upload files right from the browser.

Two more basic but necessary tools are Skype and Twitter. The former, being the most powerful IM/Internet Caller, is practically required for on-the-go business communication. The later is very useful for marketing, as well as keeping your community up to date. I challenge you to find any major online company that does not use Twitter these days. Don’t bother – you wont.

Planning and Time Management Tools

Alright, once you’ve got the basics down it’s time to start planning. I bet you don’t have large enough staff to keep tabs on everything, and even if you do, there still needs to be a clear management and project scheduling system in place. You’d be amazed at how much time (and subsequently money) is saved with proper task management.

Behold, Remember The Milk, or, if you need a more advanced collaboration tool, Basecamp (although the later isn’t free). With useful to-do lists, milestone management, time tracking, and a myriad of addons, these web services are invaluable for any beginning or seasoned entrepreneur. Another service that saves time? Alert Thingy. This desktop client will be very useful for running a social networking and RSS hub from a single window. Need to update Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Flickr, Tumblr, and even the Basecamp? Alert Thingy is your… thingy.

Member Communication and Content Tools

While we are on the subject of social networking, let me tell you that marketing-on-a-budget relies heavily on your ability to talk to existing and potential members through all available platforms at your disposal. In addition to posting messages on Facebook and Twitter you should also run a supporting blog, as well as sending out regular mass mails to your customers.

A really great and reliable blogging software comes in the form of WordPress. Even if you don’t want to install additional scripts, there is an option to open a blog with their free web service. As for mailing lists, nothing comes closer to MailChimp in terms of usefulness. It gives enormous freedom in creation of newsletters and tracking their effectiveness.

MailChimp isn’t free though, so if you want an alternative, SkaDate 8 has a native tool for internal and external mass mailing. Oh, and do use Google Docs while coming up with content. It’s a web-based office suite, so all of your documents will remain on the Google’s server, making them available from any place with Internet connection.

Traffic, ROI, and Visitor Monitoring Tools

Since I mentioned Google, I have to say that the web giant has the best tools for monitoring, well, practically everything related to your website. And you’ll need to monitor a lot of statistics for constant improvement of your website’s profitability. The first thing to get? Google Analytics of course. Sure, the service is more geared towards marketers, but the data crunch it produces is priceless.

But what about webmasters? After all, a fresh dating site owner is likely to serve in both capacities, at least in the beginning. Well, Google has a free solution for them too. Google Webmaster Tools can greatly improve web visibility of any site if used appropriately. Plus, there is also Google Ad Preview and Diagnosis, as part of Google AdWords, if what you need is to monitor ad efficiency. Don’t want to use Google for some reason? Crowd Science is your answer. It will give you all the web analysis you need to boost revenue through better understanding of your audience.

Commerce and Money Tools

You might have noticed the absence of several key commerce tools, like the ones for monitoring business performance. That’s because quite luckily, SkaDate dating script comes already prepackaged with integrated financial statistics breakdown page, displaying all the recent and past transactions.

In addition the software is quite flexible with regards to various monetization options, so there is really no need for additional expensive commercial software. Although, having a calculator laying around is always useful…

SkaDate is based on the open-source platform Oxwall and takes full advantage of the vast third-party developers community, which regularly create new dating themes and plugins specifically for the needs of SkaDate customers.

Scalable Cloud Hosting Setup

SkaDate hosting team will create and configure instances in your AWS account to ensure future scalability for handling larger sites.

High Load Optimization

Our specialist will perform a number of changes to the default product setup to ensure optimal performance for hundreds of thousands users.

Personal Project Manager

You have the luxury of always having one point of contact, something that regular ticket support doesn’t offer. All communication, custom development, issue resolution is handled by one specialist, which ensures faster times and minimum friction.

Custom Development Hours

SkaDate has a dedicated team for handling custom development projects practically of any scale, for both mobile and desktop modifications of SkaDate products. High quality and attention to detail guaranteed. Regular rate for in-house custom development is $50/hr.

Basic search engine optimization(SEO) service from SkaDate will place you in contact with a personal marketing manager, who will set your site up to be ready for increased online visibility. (The service includes keyword research, detailed SEO suggestions report, accounts configuration, content advice, etc.)